Savings-a-plenty @ Safeway! My shopping trip 12/10/09

Ahhhhhh, a big sigh of relief - I haven't gone grocery shopping in a couple weeks, and we were down to the bare bones - only our stockpile of emergency storage food remained, and I was tired of eating canned food the last couple days (not to mention the BPA in the canned food! We've been trying to avoid that) and NO fresh food left - ACK! So I whisked away to Safeway and left the kids with grandma so I can focus on my coupons!

I love scanning down to the bottom of my receipt and see my savings... this time, the Club Card and Coupon combined savings was $153.14 - no, that's not a typo, that was my savings, not the total bill! (it was a major shopping trip - it took 2 carts to get me back to my car with some help from the cute young bagger!)

I was able to double or triple-up some coupons by using both clipped coupons and "e-coupons" from cellfire and shortcuts online coupon systems that will load coupons onto your Safeway card (or other store) and will automatically deduct at checkout (NOTE: it is better if you let the checker scan all of your clipped coupons first BEFORE you swipe your club card so that the coupons all come off correctly)

I wont bore you with my entire receipt full of fruits and veggies and milk, etc., but here are some of the better deals I scored:

4 boxes Chex Cereal - Did you know that Chex is Gluten Free?!! - $1.99 ea box (sale price if you buy 3 or more boxes)
cellfire $1 off 2
shortcuts $1 off 2
TWO printables $1 off 2 from smartsource.com
So, I saved $1/box and got each box for only $0.99

Honey Bunches of Oats - on sale for $1.99
Printable $2 off 1 Pecan Bunches version from HERE
= FREE!

40 oz Bisquick, Heart Smart version (super excited that this one was on sale/qualified too!!!) - on sale right now for $2.50
cellfire $0.60
shortcuts $0.60
clipped coupon from insert - $0.60
So, it went home with me for only $0.70!

2 Pillsbury Simply cookie doughs (these don't have all the "extra" ingredients) on sale for $1.99 each, limit 2 with in-ad coupon (otherwise, on sale right now for $2.79 ea,)
shortcuts $1 off 2
clipped coupon $0.55 off 1
clipped coupon $0.55 off 1
= got 2 for $1.88! = $0.94 each (These are usually $3.69 each at full price!!!)

1 gallon Silk Soy Milk - Chocolate - on sale for $2.99 (reg. $3.49)
Printable $1 off 1 from HERE
= $1.99

Kraft Cheeses - Buy 5, Save $5 promo. I bought:
3 Cream cheeses @ $0.99 after savings
2 Kraft Natural shredded cheese @ $1.49 ea after savings
clipped coupon $1 off 3 Kraft Cream Cheese
clipped coupon $1 off 2 Kraft shredded cheese or brick cheese
= $3.95 for all 5 (= only $0.79 each)

Nabisco/Kraft crackers buy 5, save $5 promo. I bought:
3 Whole Wheat version Wheat Thins @ $1.49 ea
2 Triscuits @ $1.49 ea
clipped $1 off 1 Wheat Thins
2 $1 off 2 Nabisco crackers printables from Nabisco's website, or from Smartsource.com
= $4.45 for all 5 (= only $0.89 each)

Simply Lemonade with Raspberry - on sale for only $1.99 (reg $2.99)
Had a clearance sticker on it for $0.75 off because it had a dent - I inspected it and the seal was not broken, it just had an imperfect bottle!
= $1.24

64oz Welches Grape Juice - on sale for $2.50 (reg $3.99!)
clipped $0.75
= $1.75

Lighthouse all natural Dressing - BOGO sale @ $4.99
printable $1 off 2 from HERE
peelie off the product for $0.55 off one
= $3.44 for both (= $1.72 each for the large bottles!)

Foster Farms Whole Chickens - BOGO meat sale
Bought 2 that were $4.75, one is FREE!
= only $2.37 each, for WHOLE chickens!!

Crest Plus Scope Toothpaste, large 6.2 oz size - on sale right now for $2.49
P&G eSaver $0.75
clipped coupon $0.75
= only $0.99 for the large size!

And now, the most UNNECESSARY expense - I splurged on 6 bottles of wine (if you buy 6, you get 10% off) so we can have some on hand to bring with us to all the holiday parties that are consuming every weekend day this month!!! (plus a couple for us since I'm nearing the end of breast feeding!). So, my wine total was $38.16, which totals out to only $6.36 per bottle, which is a really good deal because they are all great wineries! I stuck to the ones on sale for less than $10 each (most of them had regular prices of $20+!). So, this purchase totally killed my "savings story", but I guess I could argue that what I saved on some areas, it allowed me to spend in other areas!

So, the moral of this story is to plan your trip in advance with coupons from multiple sources:
- Sunday paper
- Online coupon sources: Coupons.com, smartsource.com, redplum.com
- Online e-Coupon sites: cellfire, shortcuts, P&G e-saver

and look for duplicate, or triplicate products from the above sources to really score big!